Wildcat
by HeartOfAWarriorCat
Summary: A new Clan is emerging in the wilderness far from other cats. Wildstar takes over as the first leader of WildClan; Silverflower, deputy, becomes nearly the opposite of Wildstar, with her calm, accepting ways. Brightpool struggles to find the connection with StarClan that all medicine cats need, and a former kittypet struggles to adapt to life as a 'wildcat.' Rated T for violence.
1. Nightmares

Snowy's Twoleg had been acting very strange lately. He spent nearly all of his time sitting on a sofa, using a strange Twoleg device with his weary paws. Snowy was no longer being fed the fish-like food that was her favorite, instead she was forced to eat the hard, dry pellets that she despised so much. The Twoleg's behavior changed Snowy. She became less playful; instead, she spent all of her time sprawled out on the window sill, staring at the garden and wishing she could feel like she was still in a home where she was loved. She lapped at her short, glossy white fur, then flopped down and dreamed of endless flowers.

A white pelt shone against the strangely green, flower-speckled grass. The she-cat rubbed against her Twoleg, but he ignored her and walked to his monster. By the time Snowy caught up to the Twoleg, the monster was already noisily running away. "No! Come back! You can't leave me!" The kittypet wailed. She lightly padded back into the Twoleg nest, curling up on her favorite sofa, trying to keep herself from falling apart. She tried to keep the old her alive. Snowy did not want to give up, but the hours stretched into days, and the Twoleg never returned. She did not accept the fact that she needed to move on from her old, soft llife until a half-moon later, when new, strange Twolegs came. The snow-furred cat would not expect how strange her life would become.

Many moons later, a practically identical, but much thinner, she-cat, Snowpoppy, lay curled helplessly in a nest, deep inside a cave. Her pelt bristled and her tail flipped back and forth, even as she slept. One of her ears twitched, and her claws became partially unsheathed. The she-cat never seemed to sleep well, but who could, being troubled by nightmares? Suddenly, her neck fur spiked straight up, and her eyes shot open faster than a rabbit could disappear down its hole. Her paw pads were moist with sweat, and her eyes were still wide.

Snowpoppy breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. _It's only a dream, you'll be okay,_ She kept telling herself. However, she knew deep down that she could never recover from the sad time old when her life changed forever. The former kittypet seemed to never recover from the nightmares that haunted her. If she had not found, well, _been_ found, by the new group of cats called a Clan, she would have either starved or been murdered for "stealing" prey. She still longed for tbe warm paws of her Twoleg, that fishlike food, and the way of life that used to guide her paws. She inwardly scolded herself. How could she be a loyal warrior of WildClan if she was haunted by dreams of kittypet life? She sighed. Soomeday she would need to leard to accept that there was no going back. She wished she could accept that she was a wildcat now.


	2. Bloodlust

The smooth-pelted, small silver tabby opened her clear, blue eyes and stretched her jaws open wide in a yawn. She didn't remember having to wake up this early back in her birth Clan. Sadly, being deputy meant more responsibility, which meant waking up before sunrise. _I'm surprised that they didn't name me Silverlazycat! _She arched her back and stretched her legs and tail, slamming her head against the ceiling of the den. "Ugh, I can't think of a worse way to start the day than a bonk on the head," She mumbled. It was almost time for the young deputy to send out a dawn patrol. She buried her face in the dead leaves that were her nest and put a paw over her head until the pain stopped.

"Wildstar will lead the dawn patrol with Snowpoppy and I." It seemed hilarious to see the two cats stumble out of the dens, their fur unrulier than ever. A third, smoky gray tom, Smokycreek, staggered out of the elders' den, his fur matted. He yowled, "I missed the patrol?! Let me go!" Then he muttered something unintelligible and flopped onto his side, falling asleep in the center of camp. The bright-pelted she-cat that was their medicine cat rolled her eyes and sighed. She dragged the tom into her den. Snowpoppy groomed her pelt, but Wildstar only smoothed down his fur enough for it to look less matted and yawned. "Um, you're sort of leading the patrol this time, Wildstar," Snowpoppy pointed out. Wildstar growled, "I'm your leader; I do what I want!" Then he led the patrol out of camp and through the wilderness.

Snowpoppy stopped and left a scent marker on the border. She was still a young, apprentice-aged cat when she came to the Clan, but she was fat compared to Silverflame. Suddenly the two she-cats crashed into Wildstar when he froze in front of them, sniffing the air loudly. "Rogue!" Heartbeats after he called out, a large golden shape whammed into him. He was correct, it was a rogue, but he wasn't expecting her to be so fierce. The one-eared she-cat raked her claws across his muzzle, scattering droplets of blood around her. Wildstar's claws connected with her shoulder, and he slashed down her foreleg. The rogue snarled, and went in for another blow. By the time she was toppled over by Silverflame, she had slit the WildClan leader's throat.

Wildstar stood, shaking, for a few heartbeats, before crumpling to the ground. He gasped for breath, blood spurting out of his neck. Snowpoppy shuddered as she heard a sickening gurgling sound as the brown tom struggled to breathe. After standing there for a few moments, Snowpoppy placed her paw on the wound, attempting to slow the bleeding. The golden she-cat was pinned below Silverflame, struggling to get free. Silverflame snarled. _I could end this menace right now, _She thought, then scolded herself. _She's got the same right to live as me. She's just been taught to live differently, but she needs to learn a new lesson! _Silverflame ripped open the she-cat's nose with a thorn-sharp claw. The golden cat responded by kicking Silverflame on the belly, flipping the silver deputy straight into the pool of blood surrounding Wildstar, whose first life was seeping out of him. Her own blood welled up in the belly wound. The golden she-cat bit deep into Silverflame's ear, tearing through it. The silver tabby was barely aware of pawsteps pounding the ground near her as she sank into unconsciousness.

Poultices and blood made Silverflame's fur clump together. She was barely aware of the cobwebs wrapped around her wounds. Her blue eyes fluttered open. When they adjusted to the light, Silverflame could see that she was in the medicine den, alongside Wildstar and Smokycreek. The medicine cat, who was wounded too and had a blood-stained paw, and Snowpoppy crouched over their deputy. Silverflame croaked, "W-what happened? Wouldn't the rogue have killed me by now?" The medicine cat shook her head and meowed darkly, "No, the rogue's gone," The medicine cat tried to lick the rogue's blood out of her paws. "and she's not coming back."


End file.
